Roller side bearing



Dec. '2, 1924- 1,517,468

' A. B. sEvERN ROLLER SIDE BEARING Filed Oct. 7, 1921' FIEJ.

/N VEA/70E w/ TA1-3656 /g l( E (j Z Patented Dec. 2, 1924.

.unirse .er are rarer ppm,

A RTH'URB. SEVERN, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, .ASSIGNOB/ T0 A. STUCKI/CQM- TPA-NY, OF`PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OFPENNSYLVANIA.

ROLLER sinn nnnrnn\o.y

Application kfiled october 7,1921.

To all wltoma't may con-cern.'

@Be vitgknown that I, ARTHUR Snvnnn, a'otizen =of the United Sta-tes,.and-a residentfof Pittsburgh, in thecounty of Allegheny fand State .ofPennsylvania, have invented a new andnseful Improvement in Roller SideBearings... of .wl1icl1.tlie `following is a specification.

This invention relates to anti-friction-.side

bearings for railway cars and 'has rior .its objeotsthe provision oabearing of :this typefin-.whiclrthe roller is self-centering, in whichthe liability of the roller developing flat spots orvreeesses onitscircumference, or

the Atrack upon -which the roller runs becoming rough yor recessed,:thus interfering withrthe lfree travelof the rolling element, isprevented, and .in .which the roller gravi- -tatesito the center ofitstrack underits own weight immediately after cont-act between thecageandthe roller isrbrolren, that is, as soon-[as the'body ofthe car=liitssuiiicientl tobreak contact withthe roller.

Another` object of` the invention is to y provide a removable wear plate:forming the bottom of -the cage and which is held .in place by thepositioning of the cage aitself.

A-.special object isto provide a sidefbearing which. obviates thenecessity ofusingwany specialdevices'for movingthe roller, either intooperativeor inoperative positions.

-Astill `furtherv object-iste` provide a device ofgtheglrind describedin whiehrthe partscooperate to :retain ythe 1roller positively ,in

place regardless of the degree of vertical clearance between the cageIand roller even if aieetedbythe varyingpositions of the parts duringoperation.

These and other objects ofthe invention 40 will more readily appear fromthe following description taken in connection with the appended claims.

Similar reference characters are used to denote corresponding partsthroughout the several views of the drawings in which Fig. 1 is a planview of one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 an elevational view ofthe device illustrated in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a longitudinal sectional viewwith parts in elevation taken on the line III-III of Fig. 1;

and Fig. 4 a transverse sectional view thereof.

The embodiment of the invention show comprises a cage 1 having thedepending :Serial No. 506,020.

port andretain the upper bearing plate 9 inclose contact ywiththe-bolster '6.

fT he dimensions-of both the cage and bearing plate gradually lsincrease`from` one .side to the other, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, so as toaccommodate themselves-to the inclination .ofthe ybody.loolsterand atthe same time present sa substantially horizontal bearing surface to thecylindrical roller 10 which lidesfupon alower bearing lplatevor track 11ymounted. on the truck bolster 12 andattached 'thereto as by riveting aslindicated at `13.

rPhe flower bearing :plate .11 slopes vdownwardly 'romboth ends 14 and15 to. a central 'latg portion ,1.6, ,and'fiankingf each side of theplate are the upstanding ribs 17 -which terminatenear the central 'fiatportionleav ing open spaces adjacent thereto, as clearly shown in'Figs.`2. and 3.

'The length. ofzthe roller 10 is slightly less thanthedistancesbetweenltheside walls 2 andf2 andthe spacerbetween the opposingribs l17-so ythatthe samefis4 absolutely rfree, being supported bymerely resting upon the track 11 Zand llis perfectly free `to `gravitateunder its own weight towards the flat central portion 16 whenever theupper bearing plate 9 is out of contact therewith.

The walls 2 and 2 and the ribs 17 :tace each other and each partiallyembraces the roller 10 so as to prevent yits lateral displacement, whilethe end walls 3 and 4 limit its rolling movement along the bearingplates 9 and 11. The ribs 17 and the depending walls 2 and 2 of the cageare inalignment and face each other so that the upper surface of theribs and the lower surface of said walls abut and cooperate to functionas a plain bearing in case of breakage of the roller 10. In theembodiment illustrated the ribs 17 are shown as formed integrally withthe bolster with the bearing plate mounted in the depression betweenthem. It is to be understood, however, that such portions need not bemade as a part of the bolster itself but may be in the form of aseparate and independent member which is attached to the bolster.

Each of the bearing plates is formed independently so that the same maybe made of material possessing high wear-resisting qualities withoutadding greatly to the cost o1' manufacture, and each is removablymounted to facilitate replacement if desirable or necessary.

The open spaces provided between t-he ends of the ribs 17 adjacent thecentral flat portion 16 permit dirt, snow, ice, and similar foreignmaterials to be readily discharged and prevents accumulation thereofupon the wearing surfaces of the bearing plate 11.

The operation of the device is as follows: 'Ihe roller 10 normally restsupon the fiat portion 16. `Whenever the car body sways sufficiently theupper bearing plate 9 is g brought into contact with theroller and anyswiveling movement of the truck will cause the roller to ride up on theinclined end portions 14 or 15 of the lower bearing plate. As soon asthe body lifts, contact between the bearing plate 9 and the roller isbroken permitting the roller to gravitate under its own weight back tothe flat central portion 16. The return of the roller occurs immediatelyupon the lifting of the body and without the use of any auxiliarymechanism or parts. This quick return due to the lack of all lost motiondevices is found to be of great importance in practical use, and withapplicants device is secured by a very simple construction.

Due to the fact that the Hat central portion is of appreciable length,the roller 10 will not always come to rest at the same point but atvarious points throughout its length and will rest upon various parts ofits own periphery thus assuring substantially uniform wear of both thebearing plate and the roller. Besides, the roller itself when thrownagainst the end walls by severe end shocks will rotate somewhat topresent new lines of contact.

The length of the depending walls of the cage 1 are of such dimensionsthat the roller 10 will at all times be embraced thereby and properlymaintained in position upon the bearing surfaces. In case the roller 1Qshould become broken from any cause thi` lower flat surfaces of thedepending walls 2 and 2 will abut the upper flat surface of ribs 17, thetwo cooperating to function as a plain bearing under such circumstances.

The bearing described is of simple construction, is inexpensive tomanufacture,

easy to repair, is very durable, is quickly responsive andself-centering, contains a minimum number of parts and is so constructedas to prevent accumulation of dirt or foreign substances upon thebearing surfaces.

' I claim:

A side bearing for railway cars comprising a cage adapted to besupportedfrom the body bolster and having walls depending therefrom, anupper bearing plate, the depending walls of the cage extending below thesaid upper bearing plate and provided at their bottom edges with lateralflanges forming flat emergency bearing surfaces, the interior surfacesof the depending walls being substantially smooth and unobstructedthroughout their entire extent, a lower bearing plate, a supporttherefor having upstanding side ribs flanking the same, the top edges ofsaid ribs forming fiat emergency bearing surfaces adapted to cooperatewith the flat emergency bearing surfaces on the f

